I quickly got into the meat of the matter, telling him that I liked the new disc very much and that it definitely outshines his past work by far. I hoped that I wasn’t offending him by saying so. “No, no, not at all... believe me, I am in total agreement with you.” We got into how this disc came about, as well as his new sound and the people behind it. Attention turned to producers. I told him that, after years of struggling with various outside forces, it seems that he’s finally found the right one, in himself. “Yes, very true, very true.”
I commented that I thought the mix of producers surely was eclectic, even going back to the first solo disc, Valotte, with Phil Ramone (Billy Joel) producing: “Obviously, as a young artist, I was heavily inspired by a lot of people, and you’re trying to find your own direction. One of the reasons I chose to work with Phil was because of his work with Billy Joel.”
We talked about how the sound on the new disc is slightly reminiscent of some of Harry Nilsson’s work, specifically the orchestral pieces on Pussycats (which, coincidentally was produced by John Lennon). “I truly have to thank Bob Rose (his co-producer) for that. One thing I have to explain though is that I was never truly inspired by music until the day my mother bought me a piano for my sixteenth birthday. After one piano lesson with this purple, blue-rinsed old lady who whacked my hands when I played the wrong notes, I decided this is not the way to learn music, so I literally taught myself on that front. And the kind of stuff I was doing before I began truly writing songs was twenty-thirty minute classically orientated pieces. And my hero at that point in time was actually Keith Jarrett! Listening to a lot of George Martin’s work, and many other greats in that respect, were helpful in the learning process. But that's where my head has been from day one. You know, I feel that in a certain way I’ve shown the public where I’m looking to head towards with some of the work on this album. I feel that this is the first time I’ve truly included more classically orientated pieces using the full orchestra and I have to thank Bob Rose for that. Because before, especially in the ‘80s, it was all arranged to use samplers and all this and that, but I guess Bob Rose was truly the guiding light in bringing the full orchestra in. I think that’s because at the get go of putting this project together, he and I talked about what was most important factor regarding the production material, which was to let the work speak for itself about what it needed. We wanted to make it as raw and as natural and as honest as possible by basically not using any effects whatsoever as well as only all natural instruments and ambiance. And that meant using a full orchestra.”
We spoke of touring and the future: “Although we’re doing this sort of mini-tour now, I feel it’s more sort of me getting my feet wet again, and sort of feeling it all out. One of my goals is that next year I do a limited city tour with this album and possibly some old stuff that I still love, utilizing a full-blown orchestra in every city that we play. That’s where my heart truly is. Last year in China, I got to perform with a full-blown orchestra in front of twenty thousand people, singing songs like “Photograph Smile” with just myself, a piano and the orchestra. To me, that was more mind-blowing than any other situation I’ve ever been in. I possibly think that one of the projects down the road will be set up just like that. There could be an album of that kind of stuff.”
I mentioned the word “organic,” one that I kept writing in my notes as I listened to the disc. Julian was happy. “You’ve hit it on the nail... or on the head, should I say? I couldn’t have been happier with the end results. After we had done the album, I truly felt that I had proved my own self-worth as a writer.”
I spoke of good melodies and lyrics, and how there is nothing like the two coming together to create a good song. “Look, I am one hundred percent with you there. For me, it’s very much an art form and a craft, and that’s what I strive for. That’s one of the reasons I push myself, because of what I hear around me. I don’t hear a lot of what I do out there at all. I mean half the time, the lyrics have nothing to do with the sentiment of the music, or vice versa, or of the person singing it, you know, the performance of it. For me there are four essential elements to writing great songs: the melody, the lyrics, the music itself, and the performance and actual understanding of the other three. When all those four elements are saying exactly the same thing, when it all comes together like a marriage, that’s when I get goose bumps. That’s what really drives me and inspires me to keep on going and find quality in music. This is the album that, to me, truly seems like my first album in many senses.”
We talked about how Julian has managed, through his newest album, to tap into many emotions that people from our generation (he’s 35, I’m 40), are experiencing: Love, the loss thereof, the hope of rekindled love, and the loneliness that abounds when it doesn’t come about. Julian said, “This is ‘early days’, so to speak. I always felt there was going to be a major change in life, a major readjustment in my life, and that was even back in my mid-twenties, through what I thought was a lot of turbulence and a serious lack of control, on many levels. I felt something would happen that would give me cause to resolve many of the problems in my life, not only on a personal, but on a professional level too. I think walking away from the industry seven or eight years ago is what did it for me. It was a blessing in disguise. I found myself free and alone to reevaluate myself, and finally decide to strike off all the shit in life and to just follow my heart and my instincts towards the positive direction.”
Most assuredly, Photograph Smile and Julian Lennon are both headed in the right direction. The top of the charts for the disc and the top of the world for Julian. A nicer man, or interview, would be harder to come by.